Harried commuters turn to Metro to escape traffic snarls

Monday, Sep 27, 2010



Footfalls on the Delhi Metro went up Monday as harried commuters opted for it to escape the huge traffic snarls on key roads and the fewer and overcrowded buses.

Long lines of traffic were seen as the traffic police enforced the dedicated lanes for Commonwealth Games-related vehicles and forced over 1,500 Blueline public transport buses off the road, leading to a shortage of buses in the public transport system.

Traffic snarls were reported in places like Sarai Kale Khan, the DND flyover from Noida, the Mathura Road and Ashram intersection, the Delhi Traffic Police said.

Over 1,500 Blueline buses plying on 132 routes, mostly passing through central Delhi and near the Games venues, were taken off roads from Sunday till Oct 16 to ease traffic congestion.

'Usually the Delhi Metro has increased ridership Monday, but with the traffic snarls and the Blueline buses not plying on the roads, there was definitely an increase in the Metro ridership but the exact figures cannot be divulged as of now,' a Metro official told IANS.

The Delhi Metro runs a fleet of 129 trains on a network of 138 km and 117 stations. The average daily ridership on weekdays is about 14 lakh.

By next month, the Delhi Metro will have a network of over 185 km and 135 stations and is expected to carry about 20 lakh commuters every day.

Original news source http://sify.com/finance/harried-commuters-turn-to-metro-to-escape-traffic-snarls-news-default-kj1rkdfibcd.html